3 common treatments for prostate cancer

After lung cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. As men age, their risk of developing prostate cancer increases. Prostate cancer is the most important cancer of the urinary system, so the treatment of prostate cancer is particularly important.

How is prostate cancer treated? These three treatments are common!

1. Prostate cancer surgery

Prostate cancer stage B is treated with radical prostatectomy, which removes the prostate, seminal vesicles, and ampulla of the genital tract, and sutures the bladder neck and urethra. There are several methods, including laparotomy, retropubic prostatectomy (RRP), laparoscopic surgery (LRP), and robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). Typical complications of these surgeries include ED and urinary incontinence.

Prostate cancer will not be completely cured. If surgery is done, the progression of prostate cancer must be observed within 5 years after surgery. If recurrence is found, therapeutic radiotherapy or hormone therapy should be added.

2. Radiation therapy for prostate cancer

Radiation therapy for prostate cancer includes external beam radiation and interstitial radiation therapy. External beam radiation includes normal radiation therapy, three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT), and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). The target of treatment is prostate cancer stage B and C. Postoperative complications include acute urination frequency, urination pain, hematuria, and diarrhea, but they often improve within one month after radiotherapy. Rectal bleeding and urethral stricture are late complications observed after a few months. Intravascular radiotherapy is usually low-dose rate (LDR) iodine-125. This is a method of implanting a radioactive source into the prostate, but its indications may be limited by the grade of prostate cancer and the volume of the prostate. If radiotherapy is performed, prostate cancer may not be cured, and progression must be observed within 5 years after surgery. If recurrence is found, hormone therapy should be added.

3. Hormone endocrine therapy

Prostate cancer is androgen-dependent, and hormone therapy is androgen blockade therapy. The androgen receptor blocker I use is a drug called bicalutamide. Sometimes only one or the other drug is used for treatment, but a combination of two drugs, cab (complete androgen blockade), can achieve a certain effect. Patients who do hormone therapy are those who do not want to do radical treatment, such as surgery and radiation therapy, and those who have undergone advanced adjuvant therapy and advanced treatment (stage D). The side effects of hormone therapy are related to decreased bone density, increased insulin resistance, and increased body fat.

If hormone therapy is successful, the progression of prostate cancer will be stopped, but it will not be completely cured and will require continued hospitalization. If the PSA level is low and stable, it is called intermittent hormone therapy, and some methods can be interrupted and switched to PSA monitoring treatment.